The ottish dnd game.It has become a place I keep coming to.I'm not playing this game.

But there was one special evening.when I did become involved in what's going on there.You could even say I took it over for some time.(with the help of a Chester)

What happened was related not only to that game but also to something else (you'll see what)So I thought it would be worth sharing here:

balthasar_s: I already, told here, that when I came here for the second time, and the map was gone,it was kind of like in this dream I once had:3 people online, I, ggh. and GnomeAnne, and a white sheet with a squarish grid.wow,but today I saw something else,A quote from the post about that dream:balthasar_s: "In the next step we were supposed to place our arrows on the square grid. Everyone can draw one arrow in one of the squares in the bottom row. Apparently, placing the arrow in a good square and in a good direction and then using it in the right time (the arrow can be used only once) can be very helpful for winning the game."When I was ketching up I saw the part where Sherkanner requested an /arrow/.I was like : Wow what does the game want from me?karhell: It clearly wants to be RELATED GnomeAnne: Huh. I had completely forgotten about that part. And it's raining here...this could be a problem if the rain spreads to the game.balthasar_s: In that case I guess I should start staching my things one on another.stackingkarhell: You could stache them as well. Nothing wrong with a good 'stache balthasar_s: This realistic typo generator was such a bad idea. What did I think? I would never buy this kind of thing again.karhell: Awww come on, we're all about typos round here X)GnomeAnne: Box contained exactly what it said, would not buy again.Isa: Ow. Just woke up. Lights on. Half on sand. Neck stiff. No blanket.ggh: Oh, hey, now that I've got dropdowns, I can make mistakes withthem.karhell: Bwahahahaha! Welcome to the arguing-with-yourself club !GnomeAnne: Heh.Is the sand all right?ggh: Yes and no. I filled up the memory completely when I hit the chat log.AluisioASG: So… who's Chester?Chester: I'm a hat.Currently.I might not be later.AluisioASG: So you're our Chester…GnomeAnne: It has the same icon as mine.karhell: And the same red that Mike uses, it seems...GnomeAnne: Now three people are red.AluisioASG: It's a beautiful red.Ithillian: WHAT HAVE Y'ALL BEEN UP TO WHILE I WAS GONE!balthasar_s: I'm being myself.AluisioASG: Nothing.AluisioASG whistles nonchalantlyChester leaves stealthily while everyone is busy with their party.

Spoiler:

ggh: Where were you?Ithillian: I'm only half way through kechup; Gnomiah is a tiny gnome, Lydia is related to a fridge and the DM, and Sherkaner somehow had a conversation with Marakai's wife!Ithillian: Work, asleep, or eating.AluisioASG: Spurius got married.Ithillian: AND I MISSED A WEDDING!!!ggh: I think the reception is still going on...Chester finds a door.ggh: though no one might remember it.Ithillian: I have been laughing for at least ten minutes and things just keep getting better and betterggh: Did Chester just leave?GnomeAnne: He's still logged on.ggh: I meant through the door. He's not eating it, is he?Chester eats the doorbalthasar_s: oh no! that's not what a door is for!AluisioASG: Is a door a vegetable?Ithillian: You've had plenty of casks and chairs! You don't need a door too!Chester loves the taste of door.Chester: But what is this?balthasar_s: Indeed, what is this?Chester has found a very interesting place.Chester: It was hidden.On the other side of the door.Ithillian: I bet it's full of Ovalkwik.ggh: Ovalwik?GnomeAnne: You too eh?ggh: hehGnomeAnne: The way he eats those doors, you would think they were.ggh goes to look up ovelkwikggh find Ovalkwiki - the wiki of Schlock MercenaryIthillian: It's from a webcomic. Schlock Mercenary. Schlock is an amorphous blob who eats anything and everything. His favorite food is Genuine Imitation Ovalkwik, which I believe is related to Nestle's Ovaltine.ggh: Mmm. I'd eat that door too.GnomeAnne: It's a chocolate energy drink.ggh: I used to love ovaltine as a little mimicIthillian: Chester has always reminded me of Schlock because of his appetite and morphing abilities.balthasar_s: door is a chocolate energy drink?Chester goes through the doorway.balthasar_s: Oh, Chester, do think it is wise to go trough a door that you just found? And just tried to eat?Chester: Yes.balthasar_s: Do you know where it leads to?Chester: Very wise.balthasar_s: Because,Ithillian: I don't think Chester uses wisdom to decide his actions.ggh: Such self-confidence too!balthasar_s: by some coincidedce,GnomeAnne: Ovaltine on peanut buttered toast.balthasar_s: I think I recognise that place.Chester: This place...Ithillian: Ooh! That's the best breakfast ever!Chester: It seems...Related.ggh: Like the Alligators say: If it's related, don't eat it!Chester: Eat it?ggh: DON"T eat it.or eat itChester: Eat it.ggh: If you must.ggh hopes it's not anything she wanted to use.Ithillian: You should find out what it is before you decided to eat it.karhell: Back from dinner. Hiya Ithillian!Chester: To be a hat in this place isn't the best idea.Ithillian: Also, if you eat any books I will come in there and beat you with a stick!Chester: What should I be?ggh: Yes, that's what I always tell the Little Wonder.Ithillian: Hi karhell.balthasar_s: This place, I have seen it before.Ithillian: What's wrong with being a hat? You look very dashing.karhell: haberdashing, evenIthillian: Ha!AluisioASG: Good times.GnomeAnne: XDggh gufffawsggh: Why are there so many pointy toys in this bed?Chester finds nothing amusing about the statement.Ithillian: Childrens toys are always squishy or pointy. The pointy ones always end up beneath you.Chester: Haberdashery is serious business.karhell: Indeed it is. Just ask BuffyGirl ^^GnomeAnne: Is this Gingercat's friend?AluisioASG: *buffygirlkarhell: was lowercase?karhell dives into the history of the OTTAluisioASG: Looks like that.Ithillian: Yep.AluisioASG: Has there ever been someone camelCased?karhell: So it is. Apologies in this case/AluisioASG: I recall casing being a contentious topic at one point.Um. The OTT had an inflation period.ggh: inflation?AluisioASG: cosmicAluisioASG checks Wikipedia, just in casebalthasar_s: (This place, you entered, dear Chester is a...room.)AluisioASG: Is Chester anywhere on the map?balthasar_s: I'm afraid not anymore.karhell: (I'd even go as far as to say that it has walls)Chester decides to be a person. He has not done this before and wants to get it just right.balthasar_s: That's what happens when you go through the first door you find.AluisioASG: But does it have a floor?balthasar_s: (indeed it does have walls, four of them)(the walls are yellow)(there are no windows)ggh: yellow?Chester becomes a man of a rather typical height, thin and bald, but he has a dark beard, not too long, eyes something between brown and gray, The clothes: the colors are brown and blue, brown is the color of the belt, and two sideways bags attached to it, the actual clothes, are (or rather used to be once) blue, with long sleeves.ggh gaspsbalthasar_s: (but there is a light on the roof)(Three of the walls have a door)ggh: Boy, I bet that broken clock looks tasty.....balthasar_s: (the fourth wall does not have a door)broken clock?karhell: (nope, the fourth wall has been thoroughly proved to be a mist curtain )balthasar_s: (but there is a desk at that wall)ggh: Yellow rooms remind me of broken clocks.balthasar_s: (a desk and two chairs)ggh: (karhell: bwahaha)balthasar_s: because of some otherothercomic broken clocks remind me of green rooms.(on the desk there are some things)balthasar_s: (things with the shape of cuboids (is that the right word? you know, these rectangular things) and also two rectangles standing vertically, kind of like pictures but there is no picture on them)GnomeAnne: Yes, that is the right word.Chester approached the desk.balthasar_s: (There is a guy sitting at the desk)Chester: Hullo.balthasar_s: (he did not notice Checter entering the room)(now he did)ggh: This is important:DO NOT EAT BALTHASAR!GnomeAnne: Heh.karhell: Do not eat cassettes, either the guy turns to the left (that's where Chester came from)Chester: I'm Chester.the guy: Oh, ok. I did not expect you here.I did not expect anyone here.You came through the door on the left?Ithillian: Chester looks intimidating.Chester: I think most people have not reloaded the page, so they cannot see me.Yes, but the door I came through I ate.That door is not eaten.balthasar_s: If I reload this page it no longer works. I have to restart the browser then.the guy: Ate? none of the doors here look eaten to me.Chester: It must have fixed itself.ggh imagines how she'd feel if anyone ever said "Yes, but the door I came through I ate."the guy: If you came from the left, that's good.Chester: It is?the guy: Yes, because if you want to return you can just go out through the same door.Chester: It goes to the tavern?the guy: I don't know if it goes to the tavern.I don't know about any tavern.but you will be able to return to where you need to return through it.Chester: That's good.the guy: Don't go through the door on the right. It's unpredictable.The door behind is just a normal door.ggh wonders if programming gets any easier with a shot of Kossuthsthe guy: Now what's wrong with THIS again?!GnomeAnne: As long as you drink just enough and not too muchkarhell: @ggh. : https://xkcd.com/323/the guy looks at a rectangular greenish thing he is holding in his hands.Chester: What is this?ggh: karhell: teehee - I think that explains some things....the guy: It's a damn thing that does not want to do what I want it to.ggh: (I have some of those too!)the guy connects a ribbon to it.the guy: I think I need a break.I thought "I'd like to talk to someone".And then you entered.What a coincidence.I have no idea what's wrong this time.I hope you don't mind me talking about all this.the guy: You know, when I'm working on things like this, I'm more effective when I'm talking.It doesn't have to make sense.When I'm alone I can't talk.But I can make up silly poems.Chester: What are some poems you have made up?the guy: I will keep them to myself. I'm not telling this kind of things to everybody.Chester: Why are you hitting this thing with your fingers?the guy: why? I started talking to you, and I actually paused my investigation of what's wrong. When I'm talking I need to do things with my hands.And not only.I often bite my pens.Or whatever I have in my hands at the moment.Chester: I bite a lot of things.the guy: That helps when thinking intensively.However, now I'm no longer in the right mood for thinking about this an more.This thing is always finding new ways of misinterpreting my intentions.Chester: We should try the door and see where it leads.the guy: I'm not going out anywhere now.I have feeling that in a moment I might get a good idea.But it's not here yet.I start thinking or talking about seemingly unrelated things and then the idea arrives.Also, I'm not leaving all these things here alone.Do you know how much work went into making all this?the guy: And it's almost ready!Chester: What will it do?the guy: Only this one board is misbehaving.What will what do?this board?Chester: This whole thing you are working on.ggh sits on edge of seatthe guy: Actually, I'm not working on the whole thing.Only some parts of it.Like this board, for example.Chester: A group project?the guy: You could say that and you would be correct, I think.Chester: What is this board doing wrong?the guy: It's a tape drive controller board. Are you familiar with tape drives? or controllers? it is performing actions in incorrect points of time.It doesn't know how to wait for it properly.Chester: The clock is broken?balthasar_s:Chester: I am a D&D character, how would I know about tape drives?GnomeAnne: This game...the guy: clock? not any more, I'm sure. that would be worse, but easier to fix.I don't know what d&d means.But anyway, I can show you something.ggh reads "the guy is taping"the guy: Your not familiar with controllers as well?Is it like magic to you?you'rekarhell: He tapes a whole lot, even drives the tapes Chester: I don't understand anything.the guy: I often say this too. Nobody believes me.Chester: You look like you know what you're doing.the guy: Everyone keeps saying that...maybe they're rightChester starts looking at the other things on the desk.the guy: Anyway, this is easy to explainyou see this little black square here, in the center of this board?Chester: Yes.the guy: Think of it as a little creature.It is not really a living thing.But people who deal with these a lot often behave as if it were."Why doesn't it want to do this right?""wow, it's behaving so stupidly!"and so on...Chester: I see.the guy: this tiny thing can do all sorts of things that can be done by it.well, it can't actually "do" things.it's an immobile square after all.Chester: If it can't move, how can it do anything?the guy: Exactlybut it can tell other things to perform actionsChester: It speaks?the guy: well, not really.you see these?the guy points at some ribbonsthe guy: the orders are travelling through these linesSo, I can tell it what I want it to do and it will.But,it will behave like a mean genie,it will try to do something completely different than I wantedwhile strictly following my instructionsthe guy: and that's what I'm dealing with.Chester: Like the cat.the guy: I don't know about the cat.ggh will never look at chips the same.the guy: So the tape drive,want to see it?Chester: The cat grants wishes. But if you don't say your wish carefully, it does something different than what you want.I would love to see it.the guy: So you know that feel too...the guy points at a small boxbalthasar_s: (there is a small, white box on the desk. It has a rectangular window, behind the window two brown circles can be seen, on one end there are six rectangular things)the guy: this thing,it has a door but I will not open it.I will not eat the door either.You see this thing inside?I have more of these.Chester: The circles?the guy opens a box which was on the desk and takes a rectangular thing from it. It is transparent and has two brown wheels inside. each wheel has hole in the center.Chester: Oh, they're attached.the guy: yes, they are.You see how thin the brown ribbon is? Imagine how many layers of it are these wheels made of, how long it is.Now look.Chester looksthe guy pushes one of the rectangular things on the white box. The wheels inside start turning.Chester: WowIs there a daemon inside that makes it nice?Makes it move?What is it called when you try to say one thing but something else comes out?karhell: Autocat, that X)the guy: hm, I don't know, how I would call that.karhell: Official term is a lapsusthe guy pushes another thing. the wheels stop.the guy: It is possible to put writings on this tiny ribbon.they are very small and we can't see it.Chester: How do you write so small?Doors the small black creature do it for you?the guy: but the squarish thing can read them.yes, it does that.that's what it's for.It's job is to read these writings for me.but it's doing it a little wrong.You asked what this whole thing is.the guy: What it does.ggh leans forwardChester: Is the writing in the wrong language?the guy: No, it's correct. but if you're reading something a little too early or too late then what you are trying to read is not where you would expect. Because the tape is moving when the wheels are turned.Most of the time it misses it only a little and is able to guess what it is.but not always.Anyway, this whole thing.It's all about stories.What do you think of stories?the guy: If the story has mobody to tell it, then is it still a story?also, the world inside of a story, how is it different form an actual world?it's easy for us to notice that because we see stories from outside.but for those inside a story everything seems real and normal.WE could be in a story and not even know it.I wouldn't mind.the guy: As long as it is a good one. And I'm not the villain.Now, our world. Does it make sense to you?Chester: I like stories. My sand not so much. It decides to flip out and crash when you talk about stories.This world? Yes, mostly.the guy: People find rules how everything works.Chester: There are some things that confuse me, like why bread always lands with the butter side down if you drop it.the guy: have you ever heard of quantum tunnelling?Chester: I know of tunneling, but not quantum.the guy: A strange behavior of our world that someone noticed.When there is a really small thing. So small that you can't see it.and it would like to move somewhere.but it can't.There is a thin barrier stopping it.So it can't go through it.the guy: and it does not.But sometimes it just finds itself on the other side, anyway.You know how I call things like this?Cheating."Oh, well, let's move it there, nobody will notice it, it's so small."But someone noticed it.the guy: The world got caught cheating.but it doesn't care.This looks like an ideal setup.Because big things are made of small things.And big events are made of smaller evrnts.You can cleverly arrange this small cheats to make something bigger happen exactly the way you want.the guy: It looks like a way for someone to make their story go where he wants it to go.And everything seems fine because there is too many small things too look at. You will not notice anything out of order.What do you think of it?Am I talking too much?We like talking about such things here.Thoughts like these are what made us start building this thing.Chester: That is a fascinating way of thinking about it.the guy: But here is another thought.Doesn't it seem strange to that we cantalk to each other?and understand each other?I mean,where did you come from?the guy: you don't have to answer.just think about it.It's not from here, right?It cannot be. I'm from here.Now tell me,how likely is it when you enter a place like this one, and find yourself here, that you will be able to talk to someone there in the same language?Chester: It seems like it would be unlikely, but in practice I can almost always talk to the people I meet.the guy: Exactly,Spurius pokes his head round the cornerSpurius: It's friggin unlikely, let me tell you that.Spurius returns to the tavernthe guy: In many stories the topic of language is almost completely skipped.That is for the convenience of the reader.You read a story and you read all the talking in your own language.Even if you know that the characters are from somewhere else.But for them it seems ok. They don't see anything weird in it.Don't you think we could be having something like it here?Chester: That I am just in a story?balthasar_s: ? I thought I closed the door behind him Chester: But I don't feel like I'm in a story. What if I decide to do something the storyteller doesn't want?the guy: Don't say "just".It could be you, it could be me, it could be both.or none.Just one of my recently favorite thoughts.decide something the storyteller doesn't want?I don't know.the guy: But,Do you know how many things there are that the storyteller doesn't care about.For example,a scene like this:one of the main characters walks through a street in a town.it is implied that there are some people there.the guy: most of them are not even noticed by the character, and by the story.It doesn't really care what they are doing.One of them could be, for example, juggling kittens.And we would never know.The story doesn't care.So these are some of the things we like to talk about here.the guy: Why did I tell all this,Chester: What does your device have to do with stories?the guy: yes, back to the device,as I said it's all about stories.It is about experiencing stories as it they were a bit more real.Can you guess, on these tapes,what kind of things are written there?Chester: Stories that you like?But with the cheating parts changed to be like this world?the guy: stories, yes,cheating parts changed?I didn't understand you.stories I like? I didn't know about most od them.this is still not working yet.It is working well enough to know what these are aboutthe guy: but that's all.this tape that is currently inside.I chose it because it seems to be influenced by from multiple different sources.I'm really curious about it.Chester: How is it influenced?the guy: I don't know it.As I said, I'm really curious.but not only curious.I'm also tired.I think I should be going to bed now.Sometimes I wake up with good ideas.Chester: I will leave you to it then.Sleep well, friend.the guy: Thank you,Chester: You have given me much to think about.the guy: Remember, the exit is on the left, not on the right.Chester: You said this door will return me to my world?the guy: Yes, that's what it does.Chester: Farewell then, until we meet again.Chester exits, stage left.the guy: If the story doesn't have anything against it, maybe we will.the guy looks at the door at the left that is now closed.the guy opens the normal door, on the wall behind.the guy goes through the doorthe guy is on a corridor now. walks through itthe guy stops suddenly.the guy: Of course!I reversed the order!do first check later,how could I do such a thing?the guy runs back to the roomthe guy: it's still connected, good.the guy is hitting a rectangle with his fingers very fast.the guy: ok, and now...the guy pushes the white box carefully.The wheels start movingA picture appears on one of the vertical rectangles.balthasar_s: (On the picture a tavern can be seen)the guy: oh, wow. how am I going to sleep now?well I should, otherwise I'll fall asleep here.the guy stops the tapethe guy opens the tiny door and takes the tape out.the guy: I think nobody will mind.the guy puts another tape on the deskthe guy goes back to bed holding the tape in his handthe guy is wondering about the lucky person who will experience the next tape he left on the desk.the guy: Good night.ggh 's mind doesn't know which way to be blown first.

I'll be in Japan the whole time, so I'll definitely experience totality even if it's cloudy

balthasar_s wrote:Things like this can appear in the decoded message many times. It's when some of the pages are updated and others are not. […] Apparently, your bot only checked for […] This cannot be fixed on my side. My bot can not know if what it decoded is correct or not.

That's essentially right as far as I can tell. I think it's looking at the 4-digit sequence number and everything after it, and it keeps a history of everything that has appeared in the past. If your ONG log (I refer to this) contains or has ever contained the version that my bot thinks is "correct", then it assumes that line of text doesn't need to be ONG'd. So as you say, there's nothing you can possibly do to correct it on the Moonbase. The trouble is, due to forces beyond my control (like the website getting moved onto another server) some of the mr*bdex pages got changed back to an older version, causing me to inadvertently ONG a version of line 1073 that had part of line 1035 stuck on the end. But since it had already seen the "good" line 1073, my bot thought 1073 was okay. I really need to make it check the latest version of each line (the way it would if it were trying to use the log to reconstruct the story in order) to work out which line needs to be ONGed next. For now, I've altered line 1073 in a small way and eventually it will ONG. Very slowly because as you're painfully aware I still haven't written the next chapter so the dragon chapter is ONGing at about 1 line every 8 days.

I'm going back to Morobu's country for a while (I may have already mentioned that) and hope for some inspiration…

I'm always in the dark about stuff... does that put me in the shadows (and thus, totally in totality)?

Jose

Order of the Sillies, Honoris Causam - bestowed by charlie_grumbles on NP 859 * OTTscar winner: Wordsmith - bestowed by yappobiscuts and the OTT on NP 1832 * Ecclesiastical Calendar of the Order of the Holy Contradiction * Please help addams if you can. She needs all of us.

My plan was originally to visit Addams and watch it come in over the ocean Sea, but she pointed out that it's always cloudy there, so I'll be driving twenty minutes south instead, probably near where thunk will be.

That's silly. Find a better page

After skipping a few pages you find yourself in a completely different part of the story.It's when they organised a meeting on Joe's balcony to plan some activities.

Unfortunately, a small disagreement quickly got escalated to unbelievable sizes.And suddenly they're very angry at each other for no reason.

GnomeAnne wrote:My plan was originally to visit Addams and watch it come in over the ocean Sea, but she pointed out that it's always cloudy there, so I'll be driving twenty minutes south instead, probably near where thunk will be.

So we'll cover both ends. At least.

Are you taking Addams with you?

And suddenly they're very angry at each other for no reason.

I hate when that happens. Usually for me it's because I dream someone did something that made me mad, then I wake up and I'm mad at them, for something their dream-self did. (And often, I don't even remember the dream-thing, just the dream-anger.)

I know, of course, that my anger is completely unreasonable, but it still always takes me a while to get my head sorted out.

astrotter wrote:It is not particularly clear to me at this time that we are not overanalyzing this...

Randalspeed thunk, iskinner, and other blitzers! Notes from the before-was improve the after-when. Some Ways to Time

I'll see a 65%-70% eclipse. Thought about trying to drive somewhere to see it, but that would be 12+ hours in a car and would cause missing a couple days of my FFS. And since I've heard that many places within the totality range are already experiencing overcrowding, I feel like I made a good choice.

I meant south from where I live in Nebraska. She will still be watching from Oregon, but I think she's coming inland a bit to avoid fog and that.

That does make more sense.

I do trust everyone has their approved glasses and filters.

We've got a room reserved within totality, and time to adjust if needed. We're having some discussions about preferred atmosphere for viewing (not in the "not cloudy" sense, we're unified on that.) But I'd like to join a gathering of like-minded nerds, and others are willing to just go outside and look up.

I did hear one scary bit on the news - Reporter said "You must wear the eclipse glasses during all of the partial eclipse." - No, not exactly. Please do not wear eclipse glasses while driving, etc. Just while looking at the sun.

astrotter wrote:It is not particularly clear to me at this time that we are not overanalyzing this...

Randalspeed thunk, iskinner, and other blitzers! Notes from the before-was improve the after-when. Some Ways to Time

SBN wrote:I did hear one scary bit on the news - Reporter said "You must wear the eclipse glasses during all of the partial eclipse." - No, not exactly. Please do not wear eclipse glasses while driving, etc. Just while looking at the sun.

How much light do they block? I suppose I never thought about it before, since I've never experienced an eclipse, but now I'm expecting a set of almost-black lenses.

Order of the Sillies, Honoris Causam - bestowed by charlie_grumbles on NP 859 * OTTscar winner: Wordsmith - bestowed by yappobiscuts and the OTT on NP 1832 * Ecclesiastical Calendar of the Order of the Holy Contradiction * Please help addams if you can. She needs all of us.

I will be in totality. Though, being the eastern side, it may be in clouds as well.

Something to note, for anyone else watching the eclipse: Wear your eclipse glasses only during the partial eclipse. Take them off when it reaches totality - you will not be able to see anything otherwise, and it would be a waste to miss such a momentous event! Just be sure to put them back on as soon as you see a sliver of sin appear around the side of the skycircle.

BlitzGirl the NextBlitzGirl the FastKnight TemporalBringer of the Light

balthasar_s, I didn't read the whole log but one part struck me. Is a door a vegetable? Before that, we shouldn't eat doors. This made me think: Let's call all non-edibles vegetables, including vegetables, doors, buildings, spoons, etc.

ergman wrote:Oh man, do we call Time "Tim" now for short? I love that.

For a moment I thought, also, that his brother would not be working very well anymore: the tank, headlight, handlebar and front forks looked like a torso, head, and arms, and I was a bit concerned about the turn that things were taking (which is not to say that dropping a motorbike from a balcony is not a matter for concern).

Order of the Sillies, Honoris Causam - bestowed by charlie_grumbles on NP 859 * OTTscar winner: Wordsmith - bestowed by yappobiscuts and the OTT on NP 1832 * Ecclesiastical Calendar of the Order of the Holy Contradiction * Please help addams if you can. She needs all of us.

Not quite; looking directly at incandescent bulb filaments, reflections of the Sun, or bright white LEDs in flashlights should register as only a very dim glow. At least it does in my (approved manufacturer) pair.

lmjb1964 wrote:I will be in Cooperstown. NY, so nowhere near totality.

Who is it that's near Cooperstown? Was it macraw83?

Marsh'n is closer, but I'm still less than 1.5 nopix away. Sadly, I probably shouldn't take the time off from FFS...

I should send a PM to Marsh'n, though.

GnomeAnne wrote:

...

Joe loved that bike.He drops his brother Joe from the balcony.

Just kidding.

:azule:

Ch*rp, Joe is awfully strong. And not very practical, if that was also his washing machine.

I've spoilered the paragraph below so that I could write a disclaimer. It's been a difficult time for me lately, as my father's health has been failing rapidly. When I read the dnd chat balthasar posted above, I suddenly got worried that the dnd game would take OTTers away from the OTT, and they would stop posting here and I wouldn't see them anymore. Of course that hasn't happened. It was just a reflection of the mindspace I was in at the time. I'm glad OTTers have put together a dnd game, it sounds wowterful.

Spoiler:

I really enjoyed reading the did chat that balthapuzzler's posted. But it made me feel something like what balthasar was talking about earlier--feeling sad that OTTers were meeting somewhere else, especially since a few of them don't seem to be posting in the OTT as often as before. I think I told balthasar he shouldn't worry about that. Maybe I should tell myself that?

I'm currently on a trip with a large portion of my family, and it's made me realize why I was so drawn to the OTT. My family is a bunch of people that are very silly. We share a similar sense of humor, and a bunch of in-jokes. Sometimes we're serious, and sometimes we get mad at each other, but ultimately we all care about each other, and it's just comfortable being in that company. And the puns. Oh, the puns. My poor BF is wishing he could get his hands on a punsaw.

lmjb1964 wrote:But it made me feel something like what balthasar was talking about earlier--feeling sad that OTTers were meeting somewhere else, especially since a few of them don't seem to be posting in the OTT as often as before.

Why does this make you feel sad? If two OTTers meet in the woods, that is not good? I'm confused.

Sad wasn't really the right word; worried, maybe? about what balthasar referred to, a group splitting off from the OTT. It just seemed to me that since most OTTers have a limited amount of Tim, they might spend it on the game and not post in the OTT anymore.

Don't pay me too much mind. It's a bittersweet Time right now. I'm here having a wonderful trip with my sisters (and various offspring and sigificant others) while my brother is in Pittsburgh helping my mom with my dad, and my dad is not doing well. I'm realizing that it's quite likely the six of us will never be all together again, unless my dad is still with us come Christmastime.

But of course, when OTTERS meet anywhere, it's a very good thing. And I know that I can join the chat, but I'm a-skeered to because I know it would be very addicitive. If some of the chat gets posted here every now and then, that would be awesomeful.

None of us have any eclipse-viewing equipmemt. We talked about making a pinhole camera. Maybe there's somewhere in town to buy something. Or I'll whip together something like GnomeAnne's contraption.

lmjb1964 wrote:None of us have any eclipse-viewing equipmemt. We talked about making a pinhole camera. Maybe there's somewhere in town to buy something. Or I'll whip together something like GnomeAnne's contraption.

Pinhole cameras are as easy as a sheet of paper with a hole in it - even use the holes in notebook paper can work.

Sending Molpish thoughts for you and yours.

And seconding the idea that we get some reports back.

Time for me to try to get people and wolpies organized, so we can go into the big blue room and watch it be not-blue, briefly.

Local news is suggesting everyone should be in their viewing location by 10 am, or 3 hours before first contact.

astrotter wrote:It is not particularly clear to me at this time that we are not overanalyzing this...

Randalspeed thunk, iskinner, and other blitzers! Notes from the before-was improve the after-when. Some Ways to Time